View source for 46. I will speak of Your testimonies

'''Back to [[Verses 26 - 50]]'''
----
<p>
<strong>46. </strong><em><strong>I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.</strong></em><br><br>
<em><strong></strong></em>
<em>&quot;Liberty in walking&quot;</em> in the Lord's ways will naturally produce boldness in <em>speaking</em> of them. Compare the conduct of the three unshaken witnesses for the truth before the Babylonish monarch. Mark the difference of the spirit displayed by the Apostles, and especially by Peter, before and after the day of Pentecost. Look at Stephen before the council, and Paul before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa. &quot;God had not given to them the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.&quot;<br><br> Hear the great Apostle testifying of himself, &quot;I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also&quot;—at the metropolis of the world, in the face of all opposition and contempt, and at the imminent hazard of my life<em>, &quot;For&quot;</em>—says he<em>, &quot;I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.&quot;</em>In the same determination of soul, he exhorts his dear son in the faith<em>, &quot;Be not ashamed </em>of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner.&quot; To how many does &quot;the fear of man bring a snare?&quot;<br><br> Many a good soldier has faced the cannon's mouth with undaunted front, and yet shrunk away with a coward's heart from the reproach of the cross, and been put to blush even by the mention of the Savior's name. Far better—the Son of Man &quot;strengthening you&quot;—to brave the fiery furnace, or the den of lions in His service, than like Jonah, by flinching from the cross, to incur the sting of conscience and the frown of God.<br><br>
Professing Christians! Are we ready to bear our testimony for Jesus, against the sneer and ridicule of the ungodly? We are not likely to &quot;be brought before kings and rulers for the Son of Man's sake.&quot; Yet no less do we need Divine help and strong faith in withstanding the enmity of a prejudiced relative or scornful neighbor. Young people! you are perhaps in especial danger of being ashamed of your Bible, your religion, your Savior.<br><br> You may be brought under the snare of the &quot;fear of man,&quot; and be tempted to compromise your religion, and to sacrifice your everlasting all from a dread of &quot;the reproach of Christ.&quot; But remember Him, who for your sake &quot;before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;&quot; and shall the dread of a name restrain you from sharing His reproach, and banish the obligations of love and gratitude from your hearts? Have you forgotten, that you once owned the service of Satan? and will you not be as bold for Christ, as you were for him?<br><br> Were you once &quot;glorying in your shame;&quot; and will you now be ashamed of your glory? Oh! remember who has said, &quot;Whoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.&quot; Think much and often of this word.<br><br> Think on this day. Think on the station of &quot;the fearful and unbelieving&quot; on the left hand on that day. Think on their eternal doom. What is a prison, compared to hell? What need to pray and tremble! If you are sincere in your determination, and simple in your dependence, then will the &quot;love of Christ constrain you,&quot; not to a cold, calculating, reluctant service; but to a confession of your Savior, bold, unfettered, and &quot;faithful even unto death.&quot; Every deviation from the straight path bears the character of being <em>ashamed</em> of Christ.<br><br> How much have you to speak in behalf of <em>His testimonies,</em> His ways, His love! When in danger of the influence of &quot;the fear of man,&quot; look to Him for strength. He will give to you, as He gave to Stephen, &quot;a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist.&quot; Thus will you, like them, be strengthened &quot;to profess a good profession before many witnesses.&quot;
----
'''Back to [[Verses 26 - 50]]'''